Governor Jay Nixon (D) is pleased an attempt failed, to overturn his veto of a bill bill called “paycheck protection” by backers, and “paycheck deception” by him and other opponents.

Governor Jay Nixon

It would require annual permission from public employees before union dues could be taken from their pay. The state Senate fell short Thursday night of the votes needed to overturn that veto and make that bill law.

Nixon said he’s not surprised by the override attempt’s failure. He said the momentum against the ‘paycheck’ legislation becoming law began last year, when he vetoed a right-to-work bill and the state House fell short of the votes needed to overturn that veto.

“We had the baseline of right-to-work, which we won, so we had a coalition out there,” Nixon told reporters after the session’s end, Friday. “I wasn’t surprised that people voted their constituencies. I don’t think that it does anything for the economy to take away people’s rights to have dues paid through their paychecks. No one ever made an argument it was going to create any jobs.”

“Ultimately I was heartened by the fact that people, I think, reflected – on both those votes – that an organized workforce, being productive, is much more important than trying to nitpick what those rights are and undermine people’s rights to collectively bargain,” said Nixon.

Republicans said the measure would have given public workers more control over how their dollars are used politically.